Just in the Knit of Time

Proud member of the Knitterpudlians, a small but mighty group!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I Did It!

Twenty-six pairs of socks for the 52 Pair Plunge mini plunge - starting date June 1, 2010, ending on May 31, 2011. And I've still got another pair on the needles that should be finished in time to make at least one bonus pair.

This pair is vanilla ankle socks, 60sts, heel over 30sts, toe to 20sts... knit on 2.5mm bamboo dpns, they have a 1x1 twisted rib cuff for 10 rows, then it's right into the foot. The cuff, heel, and toes are Kroy in whitecap, and the remainder is Kroy Stripes in sporty stripes. Not the prettiest colorway in the world, but I only had one skein. I'm sure the recipient will like them, if not she can give them to her daughter. Quick knit, started on May 19, finished the 22nd, and one whole day I didn't knit a stitch. I started and finished the entire second sock on Sunday! Big difference when you don't knit a long cuff, lol. Ravelry details here.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Socks

Long time, no post, but there has been some knitting going on. A week ago yesterday the Oldest One decided to get the flu, which he so nicely passed to Hubs (who got hit with it when he was on the road and got stuck at a gas station for over a day til he was able to drive again), then the Littlest One, then me. I must say that was by far the worst flu I've had since we all had the Norwalk virus in March 2007.

I finished up a pair of wildly colored Kroy socks in the mexicala colorway for myself. I used my usual 60st vanilla sock pattern, but I decided to go with garter stitch short row heels for a change. I'm not the greatest at SRHs, still think I like my heel flaps better. The stripes matched perfectly. Ravelry details here.

I also finished up another pair of vanilla socks, this time with heel flaps, awhile back. These ones were made with Lang Jawoll Silk and have reinforcement thread in the heels and toes. I got this yarn at one of our Knit Nite exchanges. These socks are going to be dontaed to a fundraiser for a friend of mine's family that is being held next Sunday. Our small town unfortunately had our first murder in 19 years last month. The lady who was killed was an acquaintance, I didn't know her super well, but I've known her for a long time. She was a neighbor twice, she lived two houses from me for a bit when I had my first house, and a few years ago she lived across the street from where I live now. Her daughter used to live up the road from me as well, her oldest boy used to come down and play with my boys, and they'd go to her house. The deceased was also one of our yarn customers, she knit and crocheted, and we'd chat about knitting stuff when she'd come in, and her grandkids. It's all very sad. She was reported missing the day before her 47th birthday, and a few weeks later her fiance was charged with killing her the same day they found her body in the woods in another part of our county. (Strange coincidence, too -- the last murder in our town was also domestic violence, but the wife killed the husband - in the same apartment building! An older couple that lives over that way said it was the same apartment, but I'm not sure if that's true. The first couple had been married on Valentine's Day, this recent couple had been engaged on Valentine's Day. Kinda trippy.) Ravelry details here.

So that's about it for now. Trying to get one more pair of socks finished by the end of the month and the end of the 52 Pair Plunge. I signed up for the mini plunge of 26 pairs of socks. The pair currently on the needles makes pair 26!

Bamboo Cafe Mocha

My retirement is officially over, it lasted pretty much a month. I ended up working the advanced polls for the election as well as election day at the same building as a CPS (central poll supervisor). Not sure if I'd do it again, it was quite a hassle. Long days, especially election day itself. I got to the hall at about 7:20am, after polls closed at 8:30pm, then the votes were counted. I couldn't leave til everyone else was gone, then I had to drive to the office 1/2 hour away to take the ballot boxes and other stuff back. So I didn't get home til after midnight, I stood in line probably 1/2 hour at least to hand in my stuff. Pa went with me, he drove. I was thankful for that cuz I have no stamina to drive, especially in the dark and after working and on my feet pretty much all day (it was busy). I worked four days, had one training session, made two more trips to the office, (well, election day was 16.5 hours, so pretty much two days in one), and I'll make almost as much as what I would have made for the entire month of working at the store.

So the day after the election I was supposed to start at my new job. I did go down for 10, but T wasn't there, she had her little girl at orientation for school in September, and her mother was busy. She knew I did the election the day before, so she said to come the next day. I was so relieved, I stopped at the grocery store, took Ma for her coffee, and then I went home and napped til about 15 minutes before the kids got home from school. I haven't been that tired in a long time. So Wednesday I started my new job. I think it's going to be fun. Today I was only there for not quite two hours, then I was off to a workshop in Simply Accounting. I use an old version of Quickbooks for our truck, but the place where I work now uses Simply. I have used it a wee bit. So every Thursday afternoon from 2-4:30 til mid June I'll be at the Simply workshop. Today was kind of dull, it was just going over the basics of accounting, all of which I've done for the past 20 years or more. That's okay, the instructor heard our backgrounds and told me I'd probably be bored today, lol. (I need to know the Simply cuz the place I work now is a print shop. The owners are selling the business to the daughter. The mother does the accounting, but she wants to retire, and the daughter wants no part of the accounting. So that'll be part of my duties. One bonus is each month they have someone else do their bank reconciliation. Talk about bonus! They can be a huge pain, I'm perfectly capable of doing it, but hell, why mess with tradition.)

Oh, and to top it all off Tuesday night I broke my left baby toe. It was about time, I haven't had a broken baby toe in about a year-and-a-half. I've broken each baby toe numerous times, probably half a dozen or more times each, so it doesn't take much to break them now. Plus I'm clumsy, and I did hit this one really hard in the end table. No going for walks for me for a bit. It hurts like hell, I think I broke it farther down that usual. I don't even bother with the doctor any more when I do it. All they do is tape it to the next toe, so I can do that myself without the doctor inflicting even more pain. I think I should design some steel toed slippers. I've broken them all in the house except for the one before this time, I believe, in the summer of 2009. I broke it in a swimming pool. I didn't realize the step down was as far as it was, and my foot hooked on the step, bent my toe back, and snap! Broken toe.

About Me

Married with 2 boys, two dogs, and a fish tank. I am basically a self-taught knitter of 30+ years (started when I was around 10 years old). My maternal grandmother gave me my first set of knitting needles (which I still have) and some pink and purple yarn.